Omni San Diego Hotel
We're in San Diego, last leg of the vacation trip and still well within the budget. If the Westin Bonaventure in LA was for the family, this one was for me, so I got to choose. I never thought about anything outside the Gaslamp Quarter or far from PETCO Park, so it was a tossup between the Hard Rock Hotel and the Omni, but I finally decided my kids weren't old enough yet to be able to handle the Hard Rock's 'vibe', so I opted for the Omni. Like it or not, once you're a parent, it is all about what your children want. Besides, the Omni additionally offered the advantage of free accomodation for kids below 12, so...
The Omni hotel is the only one which has a direct 'pipeline' into PETCO Park, the only hotel in the entire nation which is connected to a major league facility via the glass skybridge on the 4th floor. Some of the rooms have a direct view of the field and the hotel is littered with baseball memories. There's even one special suite designed and adorned with baseball collectibles. The hotel even offers a 'Homerun Package' special for $299, which includes luxury accommodation, complimentary breakfast with free overnight parking, peanuts & Cracker Jacks, and two tickets to a Padres game.
The 511 guest rooms all have spectacular views of either the Pacific and the Bay or the San Diego Skyline and PETCO Park, well furnished with a wet bar and a refreshment center, hairdryer, iron/ironing board, refrigirator, coffee and tea maker, a complimentary copy of USA Today, high speed internet, in-room safe, cable TV with on-demand movies and a workdesk. Some of these amenities, like the refrigirator and on-demand movies, are charged or seperately from the room cost.
Common amenities for guests include a full service fitness center, a massive outdoor terrace with a heated swimming pool and spa, a stone fireplace and a tanning area. As far as family needs go, the hotel offers referral child care services, in-room dining, concierge, laundry and dry cleaning, and a special program just for the kids, which includes lots of games and books, a checkin goodie bag and a kid friendly menu with in-room dining. Considering that kids under 12 can stay free, that's pretty generous of the Omni, much more so than any of the other San Diego family hotels in the vicinity. The whole point here is to keep the kids happily occupied under adult supervision while parents can enjoy the pleasures of the Gaslamp Quarter. And believe you me, pleasures they are. I don't have the time to go into the nightlife and the scene here, but it's getting more and more like Vegas everytime I come here. If you love Vegas, then you'll really enjoy it here.
Info: 675 L Street San Diego CA 92101; (619) 231-6664; www.omnihotels.com/findahotel/sandiego.aspx
